


Gandr

by SailorChibi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Brainwashed Loki (Marvel), Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Civil War Team Iron Man, M/M, Not Captain America Friendly, Not Steve Friendly, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protective Loki (Marvel), Soulmate Symbols, Soulmate marks, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor, badass couple, loki (marvel) saves tony stark's life, soulmate pictures, specifically right after the Siberia scene, takes place during the movie, there might be some destiel symbolism in here whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 17:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21275060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: When the shield falls in Siberia, Loki is there to pick up the pieces. Literally.





	Gandr

**Author's Note:**

> I'm slapping some endings on fics tonight and posting them here because I'm tired of staring at them. This is one such fic.

Captain America is heavy. Weighing in with over 200lbs of pure muscle, Tony feels like he's suffocating as Cap slings a leg over either side of the armor's waist. The pure rage in Cap's face makes his failing heart stutter; the shield goes up, over Cap's head, and Tony can't breathe. His lungs lock up, preventing him from drawing in any air. He fruistlessly lifts his hands, trying to protect his face and throat from impact. Cap brings the shield down with all of his strength, slamming it through the reactor powering the armor and into Tony's chest.

The next few moments happen as a series of snapshots, burned into Tony's mind.

The look of grim satisfaction Cap gets when Tony goes still underneath him.

The shield slung across Cap's back as Cap walks over to Barnes.

Barnes and Cap, arm in arm, helping each other walk out of the base.

And this last one, not so much a snapshot as a sound, that of the jet gearing up and flying away.

I'm dying, Tony thinks, and incredibly all he feels is relief. His chest feels wet. His body feels cold. His eyes slide shut. At first all he sees is darkness - but then, some indeterminable time later, his vision floods with green light. The cold washes away, replaced by a gentle warmth the envelops him from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. Tony takes a deep breath.

"Anthony."

Tony's eyes open. He stares up at a white ceiling and wonders if he's in heaven.

"You're not dead. Not anymore. You were, but I saved you."

He recognizes the voice now, and turns his head slowly to see Loki standing beside the bed. The god looks different than from what Tony remembers: his hair is longer, the tips falling across his shoulders, and his eyes burn like green coals in the darkness. He's wearing a more subdued version on the armor that Tony remembers him wearing, feet and hands bare. Obviously comfortable, wherever they are.

"I was dead," Tony says, surprised to hear himself speak. He sounds... young.

"You _are_ dead in the eyes of Midgard," says Loki. "I assumed that was what you would prefer, considering their appalling treatment of you." Contempt seeps through his voice for the first time, like a snake flicking its tongue out. "It has provided me a great deal of amusement over the past month."

"Month?" Tony croaks. Everyone thinks he's dead? He goes to push himself up and is shocked by how _easy_ is it. There are no aches or burns or pains like there should be. He sits up, and the blanket falls from his shoulders, and he freezes.

"Ah, yes," Loki says. "In order to gather the energy to pull you back from death, I had to use your gandr. You had it removed, I know." His expression speaks volumes over his thoughts about that decision. "But without it, you would be dead right now. So I believed it to be a worthy decision."

Tony touches his chest, mesmerized by the sight of the arc reactor. Some part of him has missed it, ridiculous thought that sounds. The reactor is a physical symbol of how much Tony Stark has changed, but more than that it was proof that he had escaped Afghanistan and lived to become Iron Man. Proof that he was winning the fight to become a better person, that, no matter what other people say, he was something worthwhile. Without it, it was far too easy to lose his way and forget why he was doing the things he was doing.

It looks different, though. The skin around the reactor is smooth, not scarred. No human hands placed the reactor in his chest this time. He looks up at Loki, not sure if he should feel afraid or not. 

"What the hell did you do?"

By way of response, Loki pulls down the hem of his pants and half-turns. Tony jolts backwards in surprise at the sight of the mark. It's small, smaller than Tony's palm (and he knows because he's covered up the same symbol on his own hip more times than he can count), and is comprised of a complicated series of lines that twist in on each other until the eye grows dizzy. He's never seen anyone else capable of replicating it, and god knows people have tried: when it first came out that Tony Stark had a soul mark, dozens of people tried to pretend they were his soulmate.

But none of them got the mark exactly right. Even with photographs, fuzzy glimpses captured by the media, it's like people don't see the same set of lines that Tony does. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the lines. They don't mean anything that Tony can figure out, and he's spent a lot of time researching it. That Loki has the exact same symbol means... 

"I have always wondered why I had an önd," Loki tells him. "I had no match on Asgard. There was no one was worthy of me. I told myself that my match had died as a child, and that I would forever be alone. It never occured to me that my match might exist on another planet, much less such a primitive one as Midgard."

"This is impossible," Tony says, sliding a hand under the blanket to touch his own hip. Loki's mark is the fresh black of a healthy bond. A quick glimpse tells him his own mark is now black as well, where it was grey hours (a month?) before. "We touched before. You threw me out a window. The mark didn't change color." He knows that for a fact.

"Not quite. I was not of my own mind when I first came to Midgard. Therefore it was not me touching you at that time." Loki's voice is quiet. Off. Tony looks up at him sharply, but Loki isn't looking at him anymore. He's staring at an empty corner of the room, either seeing something magically or - more likely - looking at some horror that only his eyes can see.

"And this time?" Tony says, throat dry.

"I felt my match dying. I felt _you_ dying." Loki's eyes snapped back to him, and Tony recoiled. His eyes were burning bright with rage. "I was almost too late. You were almost gone forever. You were sliding away so quickly, but your soul still reached out to me when I came." His tone held a faint note of wonder. "I am your enemy, yet you recognized me as your mate."

Holy shit. Tony doesn't know what to say. His soulmate is a crazy god that tried to enslave his planet. Captain America tried to kill him. Did kill him, if Loki is to be believed, and at this point Tony's not sure that Loki has any reason to lie. 

"So you saved me?" he whispers.

"Well, your gandr helped," Loki says. "But yes. I saved your life." He tips his head up, shoulders squared, chin firm. "It took the majority of my magic. That is why I have hidden us here, where we could both recuperate in relative peace. All of the worlds think that we are dead, after all."

"All the worlds..." Tony looks him over. Loki doesn't look dead. There's definitely a story there, but it's not one Tony is keen to hear right now. He pushes back the covers and puts his feet on the cold floor. Loki backs off, surprisingly, allowing Tony the space to stand. His legs feel pitifully weak, but he still manages to stagger over to the full-length mirror. He has no idea why it's there - perhaps Loki is more vain than Tony cares to think about - but he's grateful that it is because it means he can see the proof for himself.

He looks younger, early to mid thirties. His hair lacks the salt-and-pepper dusting that not even the best of dyes had been able to hold off. The wrinkles are gone from his forehead, smoothed out around his eyes and mouth. Most noticeable of all are the lack of scars, not just around the arc reactor but everywhere else as well. He takes a deep breath and watches his chest expand in the mirror, realizing that, even though the arc reactor is back in his chest, he can breathe better than he has in years. Somehow, he's got full lung capacity back.

The only explanation is magic, much as Tony hates to admit it. The arc reactor sits deep in his chest. Physically, it looks the same as it did before Tony decided to have the surgery to remove it. He drums his fingers against the familiar blue light, comforted by how steadily it shines, and thinks about how much he would like to have X-Rays done. He'd loved to see how the arc reactor sits in relation to his body now. But there's no sign of any machinery in this white room, which holds only the mirror, a couple of chairs, and a bed. He turns a skeptical look on Loki.

"You are not a prisoner here. Neither of us are. We are free to leave at any time. But I suggest you stay, if only to learn about the current state of your world before you go," says Loki. "And so that we might discuss the looming threat. I saw some of what plagues your soul while I was rebuilding your body. I believe you have seen what's coming."

A bit of the old fear crawls up Tony's throat, sitting hard in his chest. "You believe me?" And then he curses himself silently, because he meant to say 'that', not 'me'.

Loki looks bored. "Only an idiot would refuse to see what's obvious. Yes, I believe you. Not just because you are my match, but because I have seen firsthand what's coming and I know the damage he can do." His gaze takes on that haunted look again for a split second, before he seems to realize that Tony is watching him. His expression immediately smoothes out into something bored.

Tony turns back to face him fully. "We can talk, then. But could I get some pants first?"

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
